Have you ever talked yourself out of a really great idea? Yea, me too. Prior to becoming a Life Coach I was a fitness trainer for almost 30 years. I had created a niche for myself with the older adult/senior market. In the 80’s and 90’s no one was really paying a lot of attention to this specialty market. I was a consultant for several organizations that catered to this market and was very quickly recognized as the go to person when it came to exercise for the older adult. I was traveling all over Nebraska training other fitness trainers how to train the older adult. I was even asked to speak at the 1994 National Conference on Aging in Washington D.C. in regards to this population. ( I was sandwiched between the keynote speakers, Hillary Clinton and Dr. Ruth.)

I remember coming home and considering “going national.” After all, hadn’t I just done that? Fairly soon I talked myself right out of it.

I heard myself thinking, “Really, who am I to think that I could be a national expert, traveling all over the country?” I don’t have enough education to be an expert….There are others that are more credible than I am…I really don’t have what it takes to do this.” I believed every self limiting thought that came and went. It was only years later (while I was in coach training) that I learned this is a normal and natural occurrence. At the time I just thought there was something wrong with me. This realization caused me to change careers and start coaching. I saw that there was a world full of people that were experiencing what I had and I saw that I could now make a difference in people’s lives in a very profound way.

Anytime you begin to look at or do something new and different, this self-limiting chatter happens. And it can stop you in your tracks. But it doesn’t have to. My Dad, who is now in his eighties, has been an entrepreneur all his life despite not having a high school diploma and the responsibility of caring for a wife and seven children.

I watched him fail at starting his own business several times. Monetarily, we didn’t have much when I was little. We lived in old rented farm houses that didn’t have indoor plumbing or central heat. But Dad kept us fed and we were loved, which is all a child needs in order to thrive. He eventually succeeded in owning several businesses and made his”million” by the time he was in his 50’s.

I always wondered how he did it….now I know. He was more interested in his dreams, his intentions, his goals and less interested in the self limiting chatter. He inspired us kids to do the same. 6 of us, out of the 7, have owned our own businesses. It wasn’t anything he said that caused us to go on the same journey. It was because he demonstrated that it could be done. Thank you Dad!